Whether you are visiting Budapest for a couple of days as a tourist or planning to move for a longer period, you would be thinking can you drink tap water in Budapest. Is tap water OK to drink in Budapest? Should you use bottled water or tap water in Hungary?
Generally speaking, the tap water in Budapest is good to drink. However, at certain places in Budapest, if the water is not for drinking, it is explicitly mentioned with some stickers that its not a drinking water.
Based upon a survey conducted on Facebook expats in Budapest group, the common agreement has been that taste and quality of Hungarian water has been quite good. Specially in newer Budapest buildings which are built after 2005, the quality of water is better than the buildings built before 2005. Its a typical scenario,that in older buildings, the quantity of lead is higher due to ageing of pipes.
Anyhow, it is best to taste the tap water in the apartment you are staying in Budapest, if you feel the taste is not good or its smelly, you should go for bottled water. On the other hand, if you do not feel any strange taste or smell, it is good for drinking.
You will find public drinking water taps at multiple locations in Budapest. Vaci Street, City park, Andrassy Avenue and almost every children park in Budapest has public water taps,where you can refill your water bottle. The water from the public taps in Budapest is safe to drink,just be careful not to confuse it with a fountain.
If you are visiting a lower to mid range restaurant and ask for tap water instead of bottled water, it will be safe to drink. In case you find the taste is not good, you may ask for bottled water.
Bottled water is not so expansive in Hungary. You can find a 1.5 liter water bottle for 0.5 USD in Tesco,Lidl,Aldi,SPAR and other grocery stores. You do not need to return the plastic bottles like they do in Austria and Germany. Hence, you pay for only the bottled water,while discard the bottle.
Bottled water has many variants in Hungary. If you want the normal water, you should buy the bottle with pink or red cap.
On the other hand, the bottles with blue and green cap have gas, which may feel a bit odd to some visitors. However, there is not much difference in terms of pricing.
Fastfood restaurants in Hungary do not offer tap water, and typically visitors have to buy a .5L bottle costing around 1USD.
